[Ha'aretz] Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, and Akiva Eldar - A bodyguard of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was shot dead Thursday night as Haniyeh's convoy passed the Rafah border crossing as he was returning to Gaza from Egypt. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called it "an assassination attempt" by Fatah forces. Earlier, Israel had triggered the closure of the border to prevent Haniyeh from entering Gaza with $35 million in funds raised on a trip to Muslim states. Hamas gunmen then seized control of the terminal and exchanged fire with both Egyptian officers and guards of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The gunmen went on a rampage inside the terminal building, destroying computers and furniture. More than two dozen people, including Haniyeh's son, Abed, 27, were wounded in the fighting. Israel agreed to allow Haniyeh to cross if he left the money in Egypt. Security sources in Israel said Hamas officials who attempt to bypass the economic embargo on the PA will not be allowed to cross back into Gaza in the future. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Haniyeh's attempt to take the cash into Gaza "flies in the face of the will of the international community in terms of the rules that it has laid down."
2006-12-15 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive